HÀ NỘI — Novaland Group (NVL) on Wednesday said it would not participate in the restructuring of Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) as planned previously, Thời báo Kinh tế Việt Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) has reported.

In December 2016, NVL had sent a letter to the SBV, expressing interest in participating in the restructuring of Sacombank.

As per NVL’s submission, the firm and its chairman of board of directors Bùi Thành Nhơn proposed to acquire 20 per cent stake in Sacombank, equivalent to 360.7 million shares of the bank.

Sacombank’s charter capital is currently VNĐ18.036 trillion. The market price of Sacombank shares as on March 24 was VNĐ11,400 per share, which means that NVL will have to spend VNĐ4.112 trillion on this acquisition.

Explaining for the withdrawal, Nhơn said during the time waiting for the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV)’s approval, a lot of negative information arose that was unfavourable to NVL.

Restructuring Sacombank is a difficult task, which requires a lot of effort, money, time, transparency and determination as well as support from the central bank and the Government, he said.

According to Sacombank’s financial reports, its non-performing loan ratio at the end of 2016 stood at 5.53 per cent of the bank’s total outstanding loans.

Recently, there have been reports that heavyweights such as New York-based investment bank Evercore Group, M&A consulting firm Redsun Capital Limited and Đặng Văn Thành, president of Thành Thành Công Group (TTC), would likely participate in the restructuring of Sacombank. 

Sacombank is due to organise its annual general shareholders’ meeting in April 28.

The central bank has so far also required Sacombank to complete its management and administrative structure; continue implementing restructuring solutions to guarantee the rights and benefits of depositors; stabilise operations; and make sure its financial system is secure.

NVL has VNĐ7 trillion in charter capital, and 5,000 employees. The group currently operates two core businesses: real estate (NovaLand) and agriculture (Anova Corp). The capitalisation value of NVL is VNĐ40.666 trillion, based on its share price on March 24. The company’s shareholders include many foreign investment funds, including the Singapore government’s GIC. — VNS